Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share 50: Chapter 48. Dea ex Machina
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
50: Chapter 48. Dea ex Machina
50: Chapter 48. Dea ex Machina
This episode is scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher.
This is the only Chapter in WD written from a human perspective.
The phrase "Deus ex Machina" means "the god in the machine" In a story, it signifies a highly unlikely event that resolves an issue, saves someone and provides a happy conclusion. However...this chapter is called DEA ex Machina, meaning the "Goddess in the Machine".
When we read the beginning of the chapter and we see the name "Lucy", we know that she must be the "Dea ex Machina".
The pre-chapter quote is from the poem, Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas. It is about an idyllic childhood spent on a farm. It is such a childhood that, arguably, saves Hazel.
We begin with Lucy, the farm girl from Nuthanger. It's early and she's just waking up. When we hear about the possibility of a dog barking, we can link it to when the farm dog was alerted and broke away as he tore off after Dandelion.
Lucy hears a "sharp sound" and it's a squealing. This gets Lucy up to see what the source of the sound is. Thinking it's most likely a rat, Lucy sees that it's actually a rabbit! Lucy has a brief confrontation with Tab, one of the farm's resident cats. She takes hold of the rabbit that we know to be our very own Hazel. Just as with the adults at the farm, it's interesting how Adams lays out how she speaks English, reflecting her Hampshire accent.
Hazel in her arms, Lucy encounters her father. He explains in his own way that to keep a wild rabbit in a hutch is a death sentence. Her father also defends what the farm cat was doing; and in reality, he's quite right. Her father asks Lucy to hand over Hazel. We the reader know what this means.
Lucy cries. She knows her father is right but she's understandably upset. Lucy wins out.
She wants to show the rabbit to the visiting doctor. Lucy goes upstairs, temporarily places Hazel in a drawer, gets some "cloze" on, and will soon meet the doctor.
The dog is back, spotted coming up the lane by the doctor, and we now know that it is a Black Labrador. He's clearly been in a fight. If nothing else, we know that General Woundwort did fight back, given the dog's leg bite and scratched nose. We also learn, in passing, that the dog's name is Bob.
The doctor, whose name interestingly is Adams, sees Lucy's mother first and thinks he'll have time to look at Hazel. Hazel is given an impromptu physical exam. While Adams is a fan of providing us with multiple points of view, we don't get Hazel's thoughts at all. In this one chapter he is portrayed as humans see him: a dumb animal. The doctor acknowledges his wounded leg which he received right there at the farm, a recent cat scratch, and reinforces for Lucy that this rabbit cannot live in a hutch.
The doctor makes an offer. Lucy can go with him on his next house call and Hazel can be dropped off in a location along the way. Luckily for him, Hazel is dropped off on the single track road that lies to the west of WD, on the ridge between it and Hare Warren Down.
The just dropped off Hazel seems to have gone temporarily tharn but comes to himself after about half a minute and quickly gets away. As he departs, the doctor confirms his leg wound. Of course, we readers already know this. As Hazel is never named in this chapter, it simply confirms again who this rabbit is.
The doctor states "he could perfectly well live for years" and that seems quite hopeful. This 'rabbit' has certainly earned this in our eyes. And it will prove to be the case so even the doctor's observation is foreshadowing in a good way.
Funnily enough the chapter ends with the Doctor making a reference to the song "Born and Bred in a Briar Patch" from the 1946 Disney movie "Song of the South".
And so our brief foray into the human world ends.
View all episodes
By Newell Fisher
4.7
1414 ratings
50: Chapter 48. Dea ex Machina
This episode is scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher.
This is the only Chapter in WD written from a human perspective.
The phrase "Deus ex Machina" means "the god in the machine" In a story, it signifies a highly unlikely event that resolves an issue, saves someone and provides a happy conclusion. However...this chapter is called DEA ex Machina, meaning the "Goddess in the Machine".
When we read the beginning of the chapter and we see the name "Lucy", we know that she must be the "Dea ex Machina".
The pre-chapter quote is from the poem, Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas. It is about an idyllic childhood spent on a farm. It is such a childhood that, arguably, saves Hazel.
We begin with Lucy, the farm girl from Nuthanger. It's early and she's just waking up. When we hear about the possibility of a dog barking, we can link it to when the farm dog was alerted and broke away as he tore off after Dandelion.
Lucy hears a "sharp sound" and it's a squealing. This gets Lucy up to see what the source of the sound is. Thinking it's most likely a rat, Lucy sees that it's actually a rabbit! Lucy has a brief confrontation with Tab, one of the farm's resident cats. She takes hold of the rabbit that we know to be our very own Hazel. Just as with the adults at the farm, it's interesting how Adams lays out how she speaks English, reflecting her Hampshire accent.
Hazel in her arms, Lucy encounters her father. He explains in his own way that to keep a wild rabbit in a hutch is a death sentence. Her father also defends what the farm cat was doing; and in reality, he's quite right. Her father asks Lucy to hand over Hazel. We the reader know what this means.
Lucy cries. She knows her father is right but she's understandably upset. Lucy wins out.
She wants to show the rabbit to the visiting doctor. Lucy goes upstairs, temporarily places Hazel in a drawer, gets some "cloze" on, and will soon meet the doctor.
The dog is back, spotted coming up the lane by the doctor, and we now know that it is a Black Labrador. He's clearly been in a fight. If nothing else, we know that General Woundwort did fight back, given the dog's leg bite and scratched nose. We also learn, in passing, that the dog's name is Bob.
The doctor, whose name interestingly is Adams, sees Lucy's mother first and thinks he'll have time to look at Hazel. Hazel is given an impromptu physical exam. While Adams is a fan of providing us with multiple points of view, we don't get Hazel's thoughts at all. In this one chapter he is portrayed as humans see him: a dumb animal. The doctor acknowledges his wounded leg which he received right there at the farm, a recent cat scratch, and reinforces for Lucy that this rabbit cannot live in a hutch.
The doctor makes an offer. Lucy can go with him on his next house call and Hazel can be dropped off in a location along the way. Luckily for him, Hazel is dropped off on the single track road that lies to the west of WD, on the ridge between it and Hare Warren Down.
The just dropped off Hazel seems to have gone temporarily tharn but comes to himself after about half a minute and quickly gets away. As he departs, the doctor confirms his leg wound. Of course, we readers already know this. As Hazel is never named in this chapter, it simply confirms again who this rabbit is.
The doctor states "he could perfectly well live for years" and that seems quite hopeful. This 'rabbit' has certainly earned this in our eyes. And it will prove to be the case so even the doctor's observation is foreshadowing in a good way.
Funnily enough the chapter ends with the Doctor making a reference to the song "Born and Bred in a Briar Patch" from the 1946 Disney movie "Song of the South".
And so our brief foray into the human world ends.